Above Photo:Â From sbs.com.au
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s mother, Christine has spoken to SBS News six years after her son was arrested in relation to sexual assault claims.
Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s mother Christine has told SBS News she feels “angry” but she’s still fighting six years after her son was arrested in relation to sexual assault allegations.
Assange handed himself in to police in London on December 2010 and was released on bail.
However, in June 2012 he broke his bail and sought asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London over fears he would be extradited to the US to face possible espionage charges.
Since then police have kept the embassy surrounded, preventing him from leaving to Ecuador.
Ms Assange told SBS News she spoke to her son four days ago and said “he’s still fighting for his freedom”.
She said her son’s case and his continued residence in the embassy had left her with little faith in international politics.
“I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m grieving, but I’m also fighting,” Ms Assange said.
“This has been difficult for Julian’s family, but we all support him because he’s done nothing wrong.
“But he will fight to the last breath.”
‘A committed truth-telling journalist’
Assange has been living in the embassy since June 2012 after Ecuador granted him asylum on the grounds he was at risk of being extradited to the US to face possible espionage charges.
He is wanted in Sweden for questioning in relation to sexual assault allegations dating back to August 2010.
The UK, Sweden and Australia have refused to guarantee that they would not extradite Assange to the US.
Ms Assange said her son was the sort of committed “truth-telling journalist any democratic country would be proud to have”, and she blamed the United States government for his continued arrest.
“He will fight to the last breath.”
She said he had repeatedly asked to be questioned at various locations including Scotland Yard, the Ecuadorean embassy and the Swedish embassy in London, but all requests had been denied.
Swedish prosecutors repeatedly insisted on bringing Assange to Sweden for questioning, but in November prosecutor Ingrid Isgren questioned Assange for two days in the Ecuadorean embassy over the allegations.
Swedish officials also sought a DNA sample from Assange.
Assange goes public
For the first time Assange released details about the sexual assault allegations, issuing a statement on Wednesday.
In the statement, obtained by the ABC, he said he was “entirely innocent” of the charges.
“I was already cleared of exactly this allegation in 2010 by the Chief Prosecutor of Stockholm, Eva Finne, who closed the case,” he said.
“During the height of the Pentagon’s conflict with me the following month, the allegation was resurrected by the current prosecutor, Marianne Ny.
“It was immediately seized on to extiguish my freedom of movement and harm my reputation.”
Assange said he had made his statement public because he wanted “people to know the truth about how abusive this process has been”.
“Furthermore, in the past the prosecution has fed partial information to tabloids that politically oppose me,” he said.
“It is better that my statement, which I am happy with, and which makes it obvious to all that I am innocent, sees the light in full.”
Australia failing Assange
Ms Assange, however, says the allegations against her son were manufactured by the Swedish government on the orders of the US government.
She accused the US government of encouraging its allies to arrest Assange so he could be extradited for releasing tens of thousands of documents about the US military in 2006.
She demanded the Australian government intervene on Assange’s behalf, and said she had contacted the Attorney-General George Brandis, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
“What does it take for the Australia government to stand up and protect my son?” Ms Assange said.
“What has happened to our sovereignty?”
Ms Assange said the UK and Swedish governments needed to comply with a United Nations ruling that Assange be released from “arbitrary deprivation of liberty” – a ruling that both governments have ignored.
She said both governments, as well as the Australian government, had obligations under the UN to preserve Assange’s human rights.
“The UN’s the final ruling on this,” she said.
“That should be enough for the Australian government now. What more do they need?”
A source of inspiration
Ms Assange said she remained concerned for her son’s health and said his requests to have access to one hour of sunshine a day had been denied.
She also said he had been denied free passage to attend the funeral of a friend who had died recently.
But she said he admired what he had achieved through WikiLeaks.
“How many human beings would still be fighting after this?” she said.
“His resilience and courage is breathtaking.
“People are now requiring of the media to be more truthful and journalists I have spoken to, who I think are very good journalists, say his work and courage has inspired them.
“I admire what he’s done and I champion what he’s done.”